


Bruce the Babysitter

by jjbittenbinder



Series: Babysitting Mar'i [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Teen Titans - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Family Fluff, why am i crying in the club right now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-11
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-10-26 10:43:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17744426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jjbittenbinder/pseuds/jjbittenbinder
Summary: With Dick and Kory away on a mission, Mar'i is left with Bruce at the manor. Being Batman is almost as hard as being a grandfather.





	Bruce the Babysitter

Bruce had forgotten some things about young kids, but he was quickly reminded how early some liked to get up and moving when Mar’i was knocking at his door at 5:30 am. Bruce wasn’t exactly one to sleep in, but he certainly wasn’t fond of being woken up at sunrise either.   
  
But, there she was, little 4 year old Mar’i, his granddaughter, in his doorway, holding the stuffed giraffe that Jason had given her at Christmas and grinning triumphantly. She was wrapped up in a blanket, but Bruce could tell she was still in her footie pajamas, the ones that were fuzzy, purple, and covered with yellow stars - apparently her favorite, according to Dick.   
  
Mar’i pushed the giraffe against his hand as soon as he fully opened the door, and he took the hint, scooping it up in one arm, trying to interpret her rambles. She was definitely a talker, she had been babbling for a while now and language came easy to her thanks to her mother’s side, ”Food! Alfred says breakfast time means everyone has to sit at the table!”   
  
Her exuberance literally lifted her a foot off the ground, the blanket trailing on the floor beneath her, and Bruce almost dropped the giraffe to grab her in a moment of panic.   
  
“Breakfast!” she took off down the hall, sailing across the corridor before he could catch her. Bruce had been worried when Dick told him that Mar’i had been floating around ever since she was a few months old, but he has yet to see the girl fall or even falter even when 10 feet in the air; she inherited her parents’ shared love of heights and flight.

  
By the time Bruce got down to the table, having donned his robe and slippers, Alfred already had his plate prepared for him: two eggs, overeasy, with toast, a small bowl of fruit, and a mug of black coffee. Judging by the state of the kitchen and the smell of syrup, Mar’i had asked for strawberry pancakes yet again this morning.   
  
Bruce sat in his usual seat at the head of the table, unfolding the morning paper before taking a drink of coffee. Mar’i flew into the room, carrying a small army of stuffed animals in her small arms. She zipped around the table, putting each toy at its own spot at the table, and sat in her spot next to Bruce.   
  
Her tiny smile shone up at him as she tugged on his sleeve, pointing to a pink octopus, “We’re all at the table!”   
  
Bruce smiled back, gently patting her small hand, “Yes, I see that. Are these your friends?”   
  
“Yeah!” she squealed with delight when Alfred put down a plate with two strawberry pancakes in front of her and thanked him in a way that told the both of them that her parents had taught her to say “please” and “thank you” when asking for things. She looked expectantly at Bruce, her hands fiddling with the cloth napkin that sat in her lap.   
  
It took him a second, but he quickly realized what she was waiting for him to do, and picked up a fork and knife to cut her pancakes into small pieces for her to eat. The moment he was done, she picked up her own much smaller fork and skewered herself a piece.   
  
Mar’i talked all through breakfast, introducing Bruce to each and every stuffed animal she had brought to the table, he graciously greeted them like the good host he is, talking about how her parents were getting back today and how excited she was to see them again, about the cat that she wanted to get, and how she and Alfred made a pillow fort in the den yesterday.

Bruce listened attentively, sipping his coffee as she scarfed down the last of her pancakes. She reminded him so much of young Dick in the way she spoke and held herself, she brought so much light into whatever room she ventured into and exuded confidence and glee, just like Dick. Once breakfast was done, Mar’i picked up her empty plate and flew to the kitchen, gently dropping everything in the sink with a happy nod.

Bruce smiled, knowing that Dick and Kory had taught her to clear her plate. She went and found Alfred, who was dusting window sills in the drawing room, and gave him a big hug and an even bigger thanks for breakfast. Alfred beamed at the small girl, hugging her back and gently patting her hair, all the while graciously accepting her thanks.

Yes, they have taught her well.

Bruce and Mar’i spent the morning and early afternoon playing Chutes and Ladders and making little stars out of construction paper. Mar’i found she especially liked taking the cat stickers that Alfred bought for her out of the craft box and placing them on Bruce when she thought he wasn’t looking. Bruce was well aware that she was adorning his sleeve in calicos and simply didn’t mind; the happy look on her face was worth it.

After lunch, Bruce managed to get Mar’i down for a nap, and he snuck off to his study to get some work done before she eventually found him, pulled him from the room using her inherited alien strength, and demanded he watch a movie with her. Alfred was laughing at the scene, at the time preoccupied with carefully moving all her stuffed animal friends back up to the room she was staying in from the dining room.

Mar’i is overwhelmed by the amount of movies to choose from and she randomly selects _American Psycho_ , but Bruce puts it back when she isn’t looking and reintroduces _Finding Nemo_ in its stead. She is too thrilled by his rare display of enthusiasm to argue or even remember she chose a different movie, and she is settled into the plush couch and watching the film as soon as the screen lights up.

Sitting beside her, answering emails on his laptop, Bruce managed to semi-watch the entire movie with his granddaughter. She floated up from his side at its conclusion and did a single somersault in the air, clapping her hands all the while.

“Dad _loves_ that one.”

Bruce translated that in his head to ‘Dick is willing to watch that with her all the time rather than another princess musical’ but he just nodded, keeping an eye on the airborne toddler. She swooped down to lay on floor, excitedly rolling all over the carpet with excess energy, and all Bruce could see was the little circus boy he had adopted all those years ago.

Lost in his head, Bruce had to blink a few times to realize that Mar’i was gone. He could hear her laughter down the hall and he knew she had found Alfred. He relaxed back into his seat, closing his laptop, and let his eyes shut. His children were all safe (for the moment, that is), he had a healthy granddaughter, and he felt as though every day his family got bigger, but never any less close than when it was just a handful of heroes in a cave.

Hearing laughter in the halls of the manor again could bring some semblance of peace to his mind.

 

* * *

 

Dick stayed in the entryway to talk with Bruce while Kory went with Alfred to fetch Mar’i from bed. It was late, the sun long gone, and the young parents looked exhausted, but the look on Dick’s face when he thought about seeing his daughter brought a smile to Bruce’s face.

“I’ll send a full report tomorrow, if I try and write anything up tonight I don’t think it’ll be coherent,” Dick gave him a weary smile, leaning back against the wall.

Bruce nodded, crossing his arms, “I look forward to it. Get some rest, Dick.”

A small yawn interrupted them, both of them turning to look at Kory carrying in the sleeping girl, Alfred beside them with her suitcase. Mar’i was wrapped around her mother, arms around her neck and legs around her waist, with her head resting on her shoulder. Dick beamed, standing and walking to meet them, took the suitcase from Alfred, and gently stroked Mar’i’s hair, “Hello, princess.”

Mar’i pressed her face into Kory’s shoulder, humming a vaguely conscious greeting to her father. Dick turned, briefly surprising Bruce with a hug, “Thanks for watching her.”

Bruce firmly pat his back, very much used to Dick’s displays of affection by then, “Anytime you need me, I’m here.”

Dick put one more squeeze into the hug and then pulled away to turn back to his wife and daughter. He and Kory verbally confer to make sure they have everything they need, and then Kory and Dick are both hugging Alfred goodbye and they headed down to the cave to use the boom tube that takes them back to Bludhaven.

Bruce retired to bed shortly after he confirmed the trio arrived safely at their home, but, before he could fall asleep, he noticed an odd pressure beneath his pillow. He lifted it to find a hand drawn card from Mar’i; she had drawn what Bruce could only assume was him and her in the manor garden, both with big smiles on their faces. It was a crude crayon drawing, it had random cat stickers on it and a handprint made out of glitter, and in Mar’i’s handwriting were the words “I love you grandpa”, or, at least, he was pretty sure that was what it said.

The smile was inevitable but, when he found the stuffed octopus she had hidden in his bed as well, he laughed and gently placed both items on his nightstand. He made a mental note to himself to put the card and the octopus somewhere safe, knowing that these moments with Mar’i would be some of the most important of his life.

**Author's Note:**

> so uhh this is part 1 in (hopefully) a series of a bunch of people babysitting Mar'i!! Feel free to request other people but up next is Wally, Donna, Babs, Jason (and Damian), and then whoever else I think of. So yeah, that. My tunglr is buffaliengirlfriend. 
> 
> Reviews/kudos give me a boner in my heart.


End file.
